The forest was quiet. A light breeze was gently caressing the trees, and causing the coursing river to splash water all about. The moon in the dark sky illuminated the ground, casting a beautiful, silky glow all about the room. Karaza stood motionless, waiting for some sort movement off of which he could feed his next attack, but it the Encorna was very good at remaining unseen. Anything. The rustling of leaves. A snap from a tree branch. A foot splashing in a puddle. Anything.

Nothing.

“So, then, you intend to attack me with my own weapons?” Karaza asked, being sure to glance around the trees quickly so as to not pass up an opportunity to catch his foe. “And what is more, you plan to do it from the shadows. I’m disappointed, Kenjin the Encorna.” He knew it was coming, but could he really just wait for it. He still hadn’t revealed his trump card to Kenjin, and wasn’t yet ready to.

“Boo.” came the whisper from just behind his ear. Karaza whipped around to find the Encorna standing just behind him. They were both now on solid ground. Karaza moved with great fluidity in order to block, but his enemy was quicker. The blades came crashing down against his side, slashing thinly through the skin. Karaza jumped back and looked down, praying that the attacked spot would not yet bleed. To his dismay, three streams of silver blood were running down the side of his torn shirt.

“Well, that’s an interesting colour.” Kenjin commented, toying from a new hiding spot. He continued to watch the cuts, and as he sat almost invisible in his tree, he was shocked by what he saw next. The wounds were slowly filling with a light, as had Kenjin’s, only the light was a bright white, and not blue. “That’s not possible.” he stammered, believing this type of regeneration to be something other than what it actually was.

“What’s the matter?” Karaza asked, looking towards the trees, knowing that his secret had been found out. He had a smirk on his face, knowing that Kenjin did not. “I suppose it’s amazing when it’s happening to you, but when it happens to someone else, it loses it’s thrill. Is that it?” No response. “Face me!” his voice roared through the forest. He was tired of playing hide and seek.

Leaves rustled as Kenjin landed softly on the ground. He had a less confident expression on his face, but still seemed relatively calm. “Well, Karaza, I suppose that that changes the game a little bit, doesn’t it? I’m afraid this changes my strategy.” Kenjin suddenly blurred out of Karaza vision. He thought that, perhaps, Kenjin has accelerated again. Just as he prepared to do the same, a noise from behind. He turned around to find Kenjin facing him.

What had been the point of disappearing? That was revealed as another noise came from behind. Again Karaza spun on his heels. Kenjin was now leaning against a tree, he had moved. No. He hadn’t moved, because it wasn’t him. Karaza spun his head around a few times, and was annoyed to find another three Kenjin’s moving in from the distances of the forest. Five on one. Perhaps an unfair advantage to some. To Karaza?

Karaza smiled. “This again. Illusions of the mind. Tell me, which one of you is the original?” He waited, and to his disappointment he got only five simultaneous answers telling him to guess. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m not in the mood for guessing games. I would, however, enjoy a five on five battle.” All of the Kenjin’s remained silent, although Karaza knew that one was asking himself questions in his head. “Yeah, you’re not the only one with a trick or two.”

Karaza blinked and all of a sudden his body started to blur. It was as if his entire being was being constructed of tiny lines. The Encornas watched in patience, awaiting the final result. In a moment, a second blurred figure slid out of Karaza’s. It moved quickly to his left, and stopped just feet away. Then another did the same to his right. Then, just as it had happened with the original, another two figures slid out of the new figures. In a matter of seconds Karaza had multiplied fivefold.

“An impressive trick,” one Kenjin remarked. “it was indeed surprising,” said another. “but do you honestly-” he broke off and let another continue, “think that this will save you?” The fifth Encorna decided to chip in, “Pathetic.” It now seemed to be an even match. Five Karazas were lined up, and five Encorna’s were watching them closely. But how had Karaza multiplied, was the main question running through the real Kenjin’s mind.

Karaza noticed that none of the Kenjin’s that stood before him were wielding golden claws. That meant that Kenjin was either not among them, or had gotten rid of the blades. His preference was the latter, but he could only hope. He waited for some sort of attack. Accelerating to the point where you can create copies of yourself is strenuous. He would only be able keep up the pace for several minutes before he lost acceleration, but it would be worth it see the look on his foe’s face.

Usually, in a battle, something happens to signal the beginning of an attack. It can be intentional, like the blowing of a horn, or unintentional, like a sudden gust of wind. No foreword was given, however, to the ten combatants. All of a suddenly one Karaza took a step forward and everyone started moving extremely quickly. One Karaza managed to get above a Kenjin in the air, and was thus able to kick him towards the ground. Another Kenjin held a Karaza by the neck against a tree. He was too preoccupied, however, to see the other Karaza coming up behind him with drawn claws.

There was a sickening crunch as metal pierced flesh. Everyone took a second to look at the two, and then continued to fight in huge numbers. The Kenjin who had been attacked removed his opponent’s claws from his abdomen and waited for the blue light to heal his wounds. He then struck Karaza in the face. There was a suddenly pause as that Karaza was sent flying to the ground. In another instant, ever single Karaza in the room other than that one disappeared in a blurred flash.

All Kenjins’ eyes focussed on that one Karaza, and it suddenly occurred to Kenjin how Karaza had been able to duplicate. I see, he accelerated to the point of creating clones of himself, and then constantly shifted positions. It’s amazing that he would be able to keep track of all his previous positions. And his movements were so perfect. Kenjin gawked from safety as he watched his illusions. Karaza had lost his clones when he had been knocked off balance.

Karaza frowned as all the Kenjin’s suddenly faded away into nothingness. He watched as his actual foe appeared from a tree. A cool breeze blew past the two and Karaza stood up, happy that he had not been speedily attacked. Kenjin brushed his hand through his black hair. “I’m impressed, Karaza. That was very impressive. I think you’re misunderstanding your position in this battle, though. You see, you can pull out all of the fancy stunts you want, but in the end, it will be my victory.” He finished with a faint smile. Karaza drew his claws and saw that Kenjin did the same.

The two slowly began circling, both waiting for some chance to strike the other. “You don’t know what I’m capable of, Encorna. You haven’t seen my true power yet. Your wise persona is intimidating, but it doesn’t make you all powerful. You’d do well to learn that.” Karaza said. He rocketed forward, faking an attack, and in an accelerated burst of speed, reappeared behind his enemy. The Encorna was faster than ever, and had already turned around by that time. He managed to catch all of Kenjin’s claws in his own, stopping each just inches away from his face.

“Karaza, this is pathetic and pointless. No matter how powerful you are, it is quite obvious that I have the upper hand. Besides, the good guy always win, or do you not observe television?” There was a slight power struggle between the two, and they both pushed back and sent each other flying. Kenjin landed on the ground, and was up in a few second, but Karaza hit a tree. He shook his head and tried to get his wind back. He successfully stood up, ready to do battle once again, feeling only a little dizzy.

“What,” he paused to swallow. “makes you think that you’re the good guy?” Kenjin dashed towards his foe with claws raised. Karaza raised his arms to block but the force from Kenjin’s dashed pushed him up against a tree. Kenjin was in front of Karaza in seconds and pinning him to the tree. The only thing that kept Kenjin’s blades from Karaza’s face were his own claws. He sighed heavily, trying to push Kenjin off of him, with no success in sight.

“Why am I the good guy? Karaza, you came in here spreading lies to me. I did not steal from you. I asked you politely to leave, you did not. Can you not see? You brought this upon yourself, you are the villain.” Kenjin drew one of his claws back and attempted to pierce Karaza’s stomach. He was unsuccessful, but Karaza was now sweating.

“Liar!” There was an explosion of force throughout the room. Kenjin was sent through the air, spiralling out of control due to the brute force of the psychic energy wave. He caught his balance and managed to stop and stand upright. It was too late, however, for Karaza was already up and about. “You stole my chain, and I intend to find out why?” informed Karaza, making sure that Kenjin knew he was serious. What was it about that chain that could possibly be getting him so worked up?

OoC- Again, I'm sorry it's taking so long. There's just a lot going on for me right now, and I think I'm growing a little lazy as of late. Anyway, if you ever think I'm taking too long to reply, just PM me with a friendly little nudge.

__________________